Of Honour And Sake
by Feilyn
Summary: Rangiku has been many things in her afterlife; friend, lover, vice-captain and more. Attracted to Kuchiki Byakuya? Yeah. That’s a new one. Prequel to 'The Stage' and a part of the Lost And Found series.


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It's ba-ack!

_That's right, here for your reading pleasure, another fic for the Lost And Found series! This idea was one I got from __**GrnEydDvl**__, who said it'd be neat to see the scene Rangiku mentions in the first chapter of _**The Stage**_, about how Rukia got piss-drunk and blabbed Byakuya's secrets._

_Also, also. Here I have to pimp __**cricketchick1990**__, once again, for being awesome. She's just written __**Cost,**__ the third part of her Bleach series __**Evolution**__, and I suggest you check it out. Hell, I suggest you check all of her work out!_

_Anyway! Here is the prequel to _**The Stage**_, __**Of Honour And Sake.**_

* * *

You know, I've been many things in my afterlife - friend, lover, vice-captain and more.

Attracted to Kuchiki Byakuya?

Yeah. That's a new one.

"I hate him," I muttered, throwing back the covers and falling out of bed. "Hate him, hate him, hate him. Ouch." I knocked my head against the wall. "Hatehimehatehimhate--"

_Crash_.

Surprisingly enough, that wasn't me, although it took a moment to register that fact. I'd been out with the Friday Night Drink Group, so sue me. I was entitled to a little disorientation when things started banging on my door.

"Rangiku?" a voice slurred. "'S'that you? "

It took a second to place the voice, but once I did, the smirk was inevitable. Really, how often does a girl get to see Kuchiki Rukia drunk?

"Rukia, you're at _my_ door, not the other way around," I called, uncurling myself from the ground. "Would you like to come in?"

"Yesplease." The words sounded as if they had been rolled around in the woman's mouth once or twice, meshing them together before she finally managed to spit them out.

_Oh, too precious._ I made a dash for the kitchenette and rummaged through the cupboards for some chocolate. Being a vice-captain, my barracks room was less of a room and more of a self-contained flat. In comparison to the shack I'd grown up in, it was huge, and nicely in my comfort zone.

Upon finding the chocolate, I lunged for the door and unlocked it, bracing myself. Turns out I was right to do so, as Rukia toppled through mere seconds later, very obviously toasted.

"I--" she announced, arms draped across my neck as I tried my best not to laugh. "--hate Kushiki Bya…Bya…By - Nii-sama."

"Funny that," I muttered, hauling her inside. "I was just thinking the same thing."

She blinked blearily up at me, and it was then that I noticed her eyes, red-rimmed with unshed tears.

"Oh, Rukia. Here, come and sit down." I bundled her onto my bed and returned to the kitchenette to pull out the good chocolate. I would have pulled out the sake as well, but it looked like she'd already had more than enough. It took a lot to get Kuchiki Rukia drunk, and more to get her to the point of tears.

In fact, until that moment, I wouldn't have said it was possible.

"What happened?" I took a chocolate, then passed the box over to her as I flopped onto the bed. "He's not being an idiot about Ichigo again, is he?"

You know, I bet there's a law somewhere about calling Kuchiki Byakuya an idiot.

Rukia shook her head mournfully, picking through the chocolate. "D'you have one shaped like bunnies?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Sure…thing." Pulling the box back over, I gave her the chocolate her hand was hovering over. They were _all_ shaped like rabbits - it was Chappy chocolate. I was nowhere near as obsessed with the rabbit as Rukia was, but it made for damn good chocolate.

"And no…s'not about the idiot."

Oh, to be in love. How was it that every couple I knew was so mean to each other? Well, except for Orihime and Uryuu, but Orihime can't even be mean to people who are trying to kill her.

Rukia gnawed on the chocolate a little. "He - I'm powerful, right, Rangiku?"

Hmm. She was starting to sober up a little. I wish I had that skill - and trust me, when you have to show up at the office at six o'clock in the morning to compensate for your crazy Captain, it's a skill.

Not that Toshiro is crazy. Just a little…broken.

"Powerful?" I blinked at the question. "Of course you're powerful - you're on level with me, and I'm a fukutaicho."

"Exactly!" She ate another chocolate. "So why am I not a fukutaicho, hmm?"

Rukia glared at me like it was my fault. I would have been a little worried if it weren't for the fact that she looked so ridiculously cute when she was doing it.

"I…don't know?"

It actually was a good question, something that bugged me when I wasn't freaking out over the state of my Division. It wasn't like there wasn't any room for her - even if she hadn't want to leave Thirteenth, Ukitake still hadn't replaced Kaien from all those years ago.

Come to think of it, I didn't think Rukia was even _seated_, which was ridiculous.

She was still glaring. "_I_ know. I'll tell you." We reached for the same chocolate, and I slapped her hand away. No matter how drunk and angry she was, the caramel-centre chocolates were still my favourites. "It's because he wants to _protect_ me."

I choked. "You? _Why?_"

She gave me a satisfied look, hand darting out and grabbing another chocolate. "That's what I said."

"But - that doesn't make any sense." As in no sense whatsoever. If I were to make a list of people who needed protection, Rukia would be right down the bottom, slightly under Ichigo because she was a woman and therefore smart enough to not get herself into situations from which she needed protection. "Why on earth would he try to protect you? I mean, I know he's your brother and all, but you're a shinigami." Another thought occurred to me. "How is he stopping you from becoming seated? Isn't it up to Ukitake-taicho?"

Rukia looked disgusted. "It _should_ be, but it's not. Ukitake-taicho used to be Nii-sama's sensei and there are…other things going on there. Anyway, Nii-sama asked Ukitake-taicho to keep me safe, and that's what he's doing and I _hate_ it." She looked up at me, expectant. "So what do I do?"

Hoo, boy. It always came down to that. Not that I minded helping out, but when I saythings, people tended to listen. And sometimes I ended up saying the wrong things.

_Like now, for example. What do I know about Kuchiki Byakuya?_

"But…why?" I repeated, still more than a little confused. "I mean, it's pretty damn obvious that you can look out for yourself."

Rukia rolled her eyes and nearly tipped off the bed. Not as sober as I'd thought, then. "I know, right? But he was married to my sister, and he made her a promise to find me, and ever since the whole me-nearly-getting-executed thing he's been so stupidly over-protective, but he was like this before then, except less obvious about it and--"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up, hold up." I shook my head. "He was married to your _sister?_" I thought about that. "Hisana's your _sister_?" Then I remembered that Hisana was dead. "Uh, had."

Rukia nodded, and I gripped her shoulder to keep her from actually falling off this time. "Hisana. I never knew her, because she left me in the Rukongai when I was just a baby." She shrugged lopsidedly. "I don't blame her. You know what it's like out there. But she felt horribly guilty about it, and when she married Nii-sama she spent most of her time looking for me. And then on her death bed, she begged him to find me."

I stared. _Poor Hisana_. I'd met the girl briefly when I was travelling through the Rukongai with Gin, decades ago now. As I recalled, I took advantage of her better nature several times over the week or so we'd spent in her District. The Rukongai was harsh on its children.

"If Kuchiki was so intent on protecting you, what was with the whole execution thing?" I asked slowly. There had been rumours flying about for years now about what Kuchiki had said to Rukia on that hill, but nothing had ever been confirmed. "Why was he so stubborn about seeing you dead?"

Rukia peered up at me. "There's no softening the blows with you, is there?"

I yawned, stretching. "Why bother? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

She pursed her lips and returned to the chocolate. "He…the family didn't approve of his marriage to Hisana."

_Well that was obvious enough_. I didn't say it aloud though, not wanting to interrupt my friend.

"And so, he swore on the graves of his parents that he'd follow the law to the letter. And then he ended up swearing an oath to Hisana to find and protect me. He didn't _want_ me executed, but…" She trailed off and sighed. "It's complicated."

I wrinkled my nose at her breath and tried to sum up feelings of outrage, amusement, _anything_ other than pity. Pity was what the Academy brats and minor nobility would feel. _I _was a woman, a fully-fledged shinigami who hailed from the outermost reaches of the Rukongai. I did _not_ feel sorry for a coward who didn't know how to keep his promises.

"Rangiku?" Rukia turned those huge violet eyes up at me and I had to stop myself from melting. No wonder she had Ichigo whipped. "Can you help me? He's my brother, and I don't want to disappoint him, but I have to have my own life as well. I'm a over a hundred and sixty years old now, you know?"

"I--" My mouth clicked shut, mind tipping from side to side a little bit. Why did I feel sorry for him? I didn't _wanted_ to feel sorry for him. I shook my head and shoved the thought to the back of my mind, concentrating on the problem at hand. "Hug him, Rukia," I said finally.

She gaped, and I laughed.

"No, seriously! Guy like him? Won't know what the hell to do with himself."

"How is that that supposed to help? We - we _don't_ hug."

I raised an eyebrow. "Did I say I was finished?"

She shook her head.

"Right. Once you've hugged him, then sit down and calmly explain the situation to him." I winked. "At least it'll be fun to watch."

"You are an evil woman," she said slowly, thinking about it. Eventually, a smirk spread across her face. "I like the way you think, Rangiku."

"I try," I sighed, laughing. "First, however, sober up. He's hardly likely to be impressed if you come at him with beer-breath."

"Sake!" she protested.

"Oh, and that's more impressive? Here, there's a futon under the bed, you can stay here for the night."

The smile dropped of her face and she worried at her bottom lip. "Are you sure? I could go to Thirteenth…"

"Don't be silly!" I poked her in the side, grinning as she jumped. "You expect me to eat all this chocolate on my own? Plus, you're too drunk to walk straight, no matter how sober you sound. I'm surprised you managed to make it here in the first place." _And if you stay, I'm less likely to have sex dreams about your brother._

Rukia smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Rangiku."

"No problem." I shook the box at her. "More chocolate?"

"Please."

* * *

_All right! I had the day off school because I got two teeth yanked out, so and this is what I ended up writing. To those of you reading __**Ozymandias**__, _**Bellzooks**_ and I have just gotten started on chapter five. It'll take a while to get up because I have to study for exams, but we're definitely working on it._

_Thanks for reading!_


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